Take Action to Protect Authentic Almonds

Co-directors of the Cornucopia Institute, Will Fantle and Mark Kastel,
met with three high-ranking officials late last year at the USDA to
deliver over 1,500 letters opposing the requirement that all
California-grown almonds be pasteurized. For the better part of an
hour, Cornucopia discussed the concerns of consumers and the mounting
negative impact of the almond pasteurization rule on family farmers
and organic farmers.

Cornucopia offered a compromise proposal for USDA to consider. They
suggested a plan permitting the sale of untreated American-grown
almonds with a warning label, which would allow for continued freedom
of choice in the marketplace and would allow marketers the option of
continuing to sell raw almonds. Cornucopia also requested that the
USDA consider a second solution ­ a pasteurization exemption for
organic almond growers, since the organic sector has not been
implicated in any of the past contamination problems associated with
almonds.

Although the response from USDA staff was encouraging ("constructive"
in the words of one official), Cornucopia is preparing legal action
should this fall through.

USDA's willingness to consider alternatives to the rule is a testament
to the power of consumer opinion‹over half of all comments coming to
the Secretary of Agriculture now concern this issue!. Please keep it
up! A sample proxy letter and directions about where to send it are
available here: http://www.cornucopia.org/almond/ConnerLetter2.html